Jim Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, to present Sept. 20 Wachovia Executive Lecture
Sept. 11, 2007 – Raleigh, NC - James W. Owens, chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar, will present the first Wachovia Executive Lecture in the fall 2007 series on Thursday, September 20, 2007. He will speak on the topic: ‘Global Engagement, Global Leadership - Caterpillar’s Quest.’
Wachovia Executive Lecture presentations are hosted by the North Carolina State University College of Management and are held in the Nelson Auditorium, 3400 Nelson Hall, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. There is no charge to attend and free parking is available in the Dan Allen Parking Deck on the NC State campus. Driving and parking details are available online.
“This lecture series provides our students, alumni, and members of the university and business community the opportunity to hear from the leaders of some of our nation’s top companies about their responses to the challenges and opportunities presented by today’s dynamic global business community,” said Ira R. Weiss, dean of the NC State College of Management.
About our speaker for the Sept. 20 Wachovia Executive Lecture:
Jim Owens is chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar Inc., in Peoria, Illinois. He joined the company in 1972 as a corporate economist and has held numerous management positions during his distinguished career there.
Owens was named chief economist of Caterpillar Overseas S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland in 1975. From 1980 until 1987, he held managerial positions in Peoria in the accounting and product source planning departments. In 1987, he became managing director of P.T. Natra Raya, Caterpillar's joint venture in Indonesia. He held that position until 1990, when he was elected a corporate vice president and named president of Solar Turbines Incorporated, a Caterpillar subsidiary in San Diego. In 1993, he came to Peoria as vice president and chief financial officer with administrative responsibility for the Corporate Services Division.
In 1995, Owens was named a group president and member of Caterpillar’s Executive Office. Over the next eight years as a group president, Owens was at various times responsible for 13 of the company’s 25 divisions. In December 2003, the Caterpillar Board of Directors named Owens vice chairman and appointed him chairman and chief executive officer effective February 1, 2004.
Owens, a native of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from North Carolina State University in 1973 with a Ph.D. in economics.
He is a director of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC; a director of FM Global Insurance Company in Rhode Island; a director of Alcoa Inc. in Pittsburgh, Penn.; and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He also is a member of The Business Council, Business Roundtable and the Manufacturing Council in Washington, DC; and the Global Advisory Council to The Conference Board in New York. Owens is a member of the Community Advisory Board of Saint Francis Medical Center and the Civic Federation Board in Peoria.
About Caterpillar Inc.
For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2006 sales and revenues of $41.517 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at http://www.cat.com.
Future speakers in this fall’s series follow.
Wednesday, October 17 – David Swanson, chairman and chief executive officer, R.H. Donnelley, speaking on the topic: ‘Managing Change: Lessons Learned the Hard Way”
Monday, November 5 – John Allison, chairman and chief executive officer, BB&T Corporation, will speak on the topic: ‘Leadership and Values’